‘Local' pro says Kulick ideal

Two years ago, Leanne Barrette was among the names bandied around as a woman bowler who might be able to compete against the men.

The idea did not particularly excite Barrette, the daughter of Mari Barrette of Yuba City, but she's pretty excited for her friend Kelly Kulick, the first woman to qualify for the PBA tour.

“She's got everything,” said Leanne Barrette, who was reached in Oregon doing a demonstration day for one of her corporate sponsors on Sunday.

She has held similar seminars in Yuba City.

“She's got talent, she's pretty and she's outspoken. If I could pick one player to represent the women (on the men's tour), Kelly would be the one.”

Since the collapse of the women's professional tour, Barrette has worked full-time for Steve Cook's bowling company, and competing in the ocassional regional tournament on the West Coast.

“But nothing national,” said Barrette, who did take part in the USBC Women's Challenge in Las Vegas at the end of August, an event being aired on ESPN2 starting today.

Barrette hopes that exposure will help rebuild the women's tour, although she admits she probably would not go back to being a full-time tour player.

She's also hoping the exposure Kulick generates on the men's tour also will help that cause.

“But some people think it will hurt it. They say ‘why should there be a women's tour if they can compete with the men?'”

Barrette isn't sure which way that will go, so for the time being, she is just happy for her friend.